Antarctica: Outline of the trip

From home base in Ohio, Kenn writes: We traveled to the Antarctic on board the Clipper Adventurer from January 7 to 25, 2009, on a birding and wildlife expedition sponsored by Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. Before and after the voyage we were in Argentina, starting in the capital city of Buenos Aires and joining the ship in the southern outpost city of Ushuaia. The map below will help to put these points in a world perspective.

Points for reference: 1. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2. Ushuaia, Argentina. 3. Antarctic Peninsula.

The vast majority of expedition cruises to Antarctica go from South America to the Antarctic Peninsula, and the map shows why. South America extends much farther south than Africa or Australia, and the Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost point of the white continent, so the crossing is feasible for many kinds of ships. There are also some expedition cruises that go south from New Zealand and take in the subantarctic islands of that country, and a few cruises that go south through the bird-rich waters of South Africa to the continent's edge, and we would like to try those routes eventually. But so far, all five of my trips have originated in South America.

Most world maps (like the one above) show Antarctica as an ill-defined mass along the lower edge, so it's hard for most people to get an idea of the continent's size. Antarctica is huge -- near the size of Australia and Europe combined. It is roughly centered on the South Pole, and the interior of the continent is the coldest region on earth. We confess that, as naturalists, we're not very interested in visiting the South Pole; nothing lives there except a few dedicated scientists. Remarkably, the South Polar Skua has occurred there as a stray, having flown many hundreds of miles across lifeless ice and rock, but we'd rather watch birds like this out at the Antarctic coastline where they belong.

The majority of expedition cruises from Ushuia go straight across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula and back. But our trip was focused on birds and wildlife, so we took the longer route northeast to the Falkland Islands, farther east to remote South Georgia Island, then southwest to the Antarctic Peninsula and back north across the Drake Passage. On the voyage we spent eight full days at sea (enjoying fabulous seabirds, whales, and dolphins), and during the other ten days we made landings at no fewer than 18 sites. This was Kim's first trip to the region and I can say without hesitation that it was my best trip ever. In subsequent posts we'll be describing the experiences of the voyage in detail.

UMN0 stops Pork in Sabah

Recently I found that it’s very hard to get pork in Labuan and my cousin who lives in Labuan told me it has been 2 months since they ban the selling of pork in Labuan open market.

Everyone in labuan are feeling the pain without pork and pork seller has to sell their meat like network marketing and later it might be sell like drugs.

Why did UMN0 want to change a rule that has been going on for long time without problem? Pork use to be sold side by side with other poultry and fish at wet market.

Now, Food stall licenses are only issue to Muslim entrepreneurs and most school canteen is Muslim operated now.

For me, this is part of divide and rule tactic by the evil UMNO.

In Sabah, non Muslim and Muslim can eat and drink in any kedai kopi but after evil UMNO came in, you hardly see the Muslim eat and drink in non Muslim shop except got the HALAL certificate.

Please don't easily fell into evil UMNO trap. Sabahan must unit to kick the evil UMNO out from Sabah.

Why do the governments need to classify Bumiputra into Muslim Bumiputra and Non-Muslim bumiputra. Soon I think they will start classifying Malaysian into two categories.

Pork eating races
No pork eating races

UMNO is really a pariah party they will politicize everything, even pork. Sabahan Muslim doesn’t really care about pig farming and pork selling before the arrival of UMNO.

If the Sabah moslem population increased (illegal muslim immigrants obtained MYCARD, Pakistan, Bugis, Pinoy Suluk, Pinoy Bajau, Java, Mamak, Palestine), the evil UMNO will implement other stupid Islamic law again for example the Christian cannot use BAHASA MALAYSIA bible in church or ALLAH word in Christian bible. MAZU case in kudat is another very good example where you cannot build a MAZU close to their mosque. It is totally DISRESPECTFUL to other religion.

The more I wrote, the more I hate this evil UMNO. We just pray that GOD is so merciful to Sabahan and cast the evil UMNO out from our land.

What ever they say, Sinalau bakas, Sasau, Tonsom Babi, Pau Babi are the best food in the world.

The only way to slove the pork problem in Sabah is to make Pork HALAL! Everybody can eat pork!

Degrees of Separation

Drygalski Fjord, South Georgia Island, Antarctic Region

Oak Harbor, Ohio, United States of America

From the snow belt, Kenn writes: During our whole trip to Antarctica, the coldest air temperature we experienced was about 29 degrees Fahrenheit, or just below freezing. When our flight from Buenos Aires landed at Dallas-Fort Worth, it was 16 degrees out, and our connection was delayed by three hours because of complications in de-icing the plane. And when we finally made it back to the Detroit airport, our dear friends Vic and Lois were there to meet us, but they had braved icy winds and snow-covered roads to be there. Were we cold in the Antarctic? No! But coming home was something of a shock!

Our first morning back at home, we had to shovel a path to the bird feeders, but soon we were rewarded by returning guests: our first Northern Cardinals of the year, our first Blue Jays of the year. After weeks of novelty among the penguins and petrels and other southern seabirds, it was reassuring to reconnect with these familiar backyard denizens.

We are pulling together all our notes and our (thousands of) photographs, and we hope to start posting information about our Antarctic trip in a more organized way very soon!

Mazu going to kill Musa Aman in his Dream

The trial of Mazu Statue in Kudat is on going but hearings for the case is always being delayed, why?

Can Chong Kah Kiat win this and finish the construction of the Mazu statue or the state government can with this case easily.

This is a very interesting case as it involves Sabah Chief Minister and few top officials of the state government.

Lawyers defending the State Government suddenly resigned before the trial begin, why?

I am confident if the trial goes on fairly, there is no reason why Chong Kah Kiat can’t win as Freedom of Religion is clearly stated in the federation. Just that the state government under Musa Aman try to belittle other community rights and now find themselves in deep shit!

Musa Aman said Mazu is a Demon statue and prohibited in Islam, Such a “sensitive” chief.

Big chief big shit!

Sabah Voters

I am worried about the political scenario in Sabah as its quite different from what is happening in west Malaysia. Two by-election has pass (Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terrenganu), both of them won by Pakatan Rakyat. This show how much the people want change, especially changing the 50 years old Barisan Nasional.

Do Sabahan dare to do what the west Malaysian has done?
1. Sabah senior voters are mostly BN strong supporters.
2. Young voters yet to have the urge for change.
3. Lack of internet access in Sabah thus most info receives are pro-BN.
4. Our voters are easily bribed and trusted BN empty promises.
5. our leader don’t care about Sabahan, only try to get rich thus easily bought by federal BN.
6. No unity among races, religion and districts as implanted by UMNO.
7. Dominant races like Kadazan Dusun Murut are divided into few parties PBS, PBRS and UPKO. This will only make Najib’s plan of Divide and rule a success.
8. Voters never seriously consider their future before voting.

There are many more reason and factors than we must consider in order to get us out from the ruling of Western Malaysia in Sabah. Those western leader never honestly wanted to develop Sabah.

Homeward Bound

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, Kenn and Kim write: Our Antarctic trip finished up with our return to Tierra del Fuego, in southernmost Argentina, on January 25. We'll be home in Ohio in another day or so. But having found a good internet connection here in Buenos Aires, we couldn't resist sending our greetings -- and a few teaser photos to share just a tiny bit of our experience.


This is a distant view of a tiny fraction of the King Penguin colony at Salisbury Plain on South Georgia Island. Look closely! Each little black and brown figure in this photo is a penguin! The brown ones are the big, fat woolly youngsters. They looked so much like bowling pins in fur coats! We saw tens of thousands of penguins on this trip, representing eight species, and we'll describe each species in separate posts after we get home.

Encounters with marine mammals provided some of the non-avian highlights of the trip. Whales, dolphins, and seals are all part of the Antarctic birding experience. Just wait until you see the Orca stuff we have to share!

It's going to take us a while to fully assimilate everything that we saw during the last few weeks, but we'll try to organize it all into posts on the blog so we can share what we experienced and we've learned about Antarctica with you.

Happy Chinese New Year!

BEWARE!

BE ALERT!

WISH ALL OF YOU HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Persiangan Next?

Kuala Terrenganu by-election is over and for sure BN is gearing up for Persiangan. Will BN attack Persiangan with Millions of ringgits?

To beat BN in Persiangan Sabah, the fight must one 1 vs 1. PKR must work with SAPP in order to fill just one candidate on their side. I don’t care if the opposition candidate is from PKR or SAPP but I prefer him / her to be local Persiangan for that the YAB can truly represent the people. Equally important is to make sure the candidate won’t jump, for Sabah is famous for frogging YAB!

Just like Datuk Shahril Samad said, Sabahan are different from Semanjung for most of them still honest citizen and rely heavily on their leader for decision. For that reason, Persiangan YAB must be some one who is willing to work for the people.

I love the opposition to win to show BN aka UMNO not to look down on Sabahan, so that they will listen to Sabahan and not to give us empty promises that they have been giving for the past 45years, especially Sabah natives.

Last General Election, BN UMNO make a documentary about the developments their have bought to Sabah and its people. That’s all lies, a small bridge like the one at Karamatoi also BN didn’t take good care of it, what else they want to talk about development. For sure, BN tried to make locals of Persiangan looks like idiots once more with that free movie.

Persiangan people don’t be satisfied with sweets that will finish in the mouth as the sweets will not be able to fulfill your hunger.

What development did BN bring to Persiangan? After 45years, the only road that connects Keningau and Tawau has yet to be asphalted. The road is only suitable for logging Lorries, how Persiangan people in Sepulut, Sook and Nabawan area going to develop? If there is a good roods, sure there will be more vehicles and tourist passing by thus the locals can improve their livings.
Our country is half a century old but yet Sabah roads are worst than mud holes, till when Sabahan is going to stand all this humiliation?

I just can’t imagine how our Najib Razak is going to Persiangan personally. Born with a golden spoon, how will Najib survive two hours in a super poor Persiangan. If Najib can stay there for a week then I will personally ask all the Persiangan people to vote for him. There is no 5stars hotel in Persiangan, not even one star…

Whitecaps and White-chins

From the Clipper Adventurer in the middle of the Drake Passage, Kenn and Kim write: Yesterday evening, the Chinstrap Penguins and Gentoo Penguins bid us farewell as we left Barrientos Island in the South Shetlands and headed north for the crossing back to Ushuaia. The Drake Passage -- the stretch of water between the northern tip of Antarctica and the southernmost point of South America -- is renowned for its potentially rough seas. Kenn has observed on past trips that it can produce huge waves, but that it can also be flat calm at times (sometimes even earning the term "Drake Lake"). Today was somewhere between these extremes. For much of the morning we couldn’t stand on any of the open decks without holding on to something, making it hard to scan out among the tossing whitecaps and driving spray. Even by late afternoon the ship was still rolling and unpredictably lurching at times. But throughout the day, the ship was being followed by a variety of birds, including at least a dozen White-chinned Petrels.

We took advantage of the opportunity to watch these petrels. Big and stocky, mostly deep chocolate in color, they circled and soared effortlessly on the whipping winds, sometimes hanging in mid-air high over the stern, sometimes swooping in great arcs around the ship. The White-chinned Petrel is widespread in southern seas, nesting on the Falklands and South Georgia Island as well as on several islands in the southern Indian Ocean and islands south of New Zealand. So it’s easy to see this bird if you travel by ship at southern latitudes. It’s not so easy to see the white chin for which it’s named: the bird has only a small patch of white feathers below the big pale bill. But with today’s views we were able to see the white chin of the White-chin repeatedly.

The White-chinned Petrel really does have a white chin, but in a close-up view, the structure of its bill is a more interesting feature

We'll be out in the Drake Passage all day tomorrow as well, but by Sunday midday we'll be back on land in southernmost Argentina ... and after a couple more days in Argentina, we should be home in Ohio by Thursday the 29th. We'll report on our whole trip, a few details at a time, after we get home. It will take a while to digest this experience, but we'll share as much of it as we can.

Please Don't Stop The Music............

PAS youth has been really aggressive lately, from Pussycat Dolls, Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani till Rihanna they want to boycott. Their reasons for boycotting are the USA and protect Asian Culture.

I couldn’t understand what Asian culture are they talking about, Malay culture or Chinese culture or Muslim culture? If its Malay culture that’s very subjective issue. PAS youth has become like Taliban, no compromise at all.

If they don’t want to go to those concerts, then don’t go but don’t affect people than is none of their concern.

I am totally against PAS youth trying to block music freedom in Malaysia. As a music lover, I view this situation as an unhealthy. PAS stands have affected non-Muslim as well. Their statement is too arrogant and do not take into consideration of non-Muslim. Music has nothing to do with them and nobody force them to go to those concerts.

I have been following PAS progress since 1990. PAS has been good under the leadership of Nik Aziz and people like Mat Sabu, Husam Musa and Shaari Sungib came out around that era. After 1999, PAS got lot of new guys who don’t know much about surviving in politics. From Pure Islam to Arab-influenced and now Talibanization.

Random Bird: Abert's Towhee

Kenn wrote this back in December: (Today, January 22, we're scheduled to be finishing our exploration of the Antarctic Peninsula and starting to head toward the legendary rough waters of the Drake Passage. Internet access is unlikely, so we pre-set this post to appear in our absence.)

If you’re more than about 300 miles away from Phoenix, Arizona, I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be seeing Abert’s Towhee today. And neither will we. This is a bird with a very limited range, found only in thickets along lowland streams in the American southwest. Some southwestern birds become more common as you head south into Mexico, but not Abert’s Towhee; it barely crosses the border into the northern edge of Mexico. Most of its range is in Arizona and a small area of southeastern California, with tiny toeholds in New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.

In most places this bird lurks inside dense thickets, scratching among the leaf-litter with both feet in the manner of other towhees, and it’s usually hard to see. You’re more likely to hear its voice, a series of sharp ringing notes (and that's just as well; it sounds better than it looks). In some places, though, the bird is increasing and spreading into new habitats. Within the last three decades or so, this has become a common suburban bird in parts of Phoenix and Yuma, Arizona. It has also expanded its range into new areas, such as along Sonoita Creek in southern Arizona, where we know from careful past study that it hadn’t been present in earlier years.

Abert’s Towhee shows up on some "watchlists" of birds of conservation concern, presumably because its total range looks small on the map. In my opinion, this is misguided: we should reserve such designations for birds that are actually vulnerable or declining. Abert’s Towhee has been expanding its range and adapting to new habitats, so it’s doing very well. If conservation groups get into a mindset of padding the lists of "threatened" or "near-threatened" birds, after a while the whole exercise starts to take on a sense of the-sky-is-falling absurdity.

Goodbye President Bush

The Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at President Bush was silly and immature. A journalist has the biggest weapon in his hands, his pen. He uses words like cement and mortar to build institutions and personalities or like a hammer to break them. Why use a shoe? Anybody in the world can chuck a shoe at any one, provided he has shoes to spare. This man is no journalist.

The journalist should have tried to throw his shoes at President Saddam Hussein also, when so many Iraqis disagreed with the President’s methods of handling protests. Most probably, the journalist would not have returned home for supper in the evening to his house. He dare to attack Bush because he isn’t as cruel as Saddam Hussein!

Clearly, Iraqi and American security were lacking in speed of response. How can a man throw two objects at the President, one after the other, and security could not nab him after the first throw itself? The security officers should start visiting the gymnasiums for regular workouts.

Full marks to President Bush for his agile responses in ducking the shoes. He seems to be more fit and lithe than all the security personnel.

Update from Antarctica

From the Clipper Adventurer in the Southern Ocean, approaching the Antarctic Peninsula, Kenn and Kim write: If you're reading this, we've just succeeded in connecting with the Internet again, and we were amazed to see all the comments posted regarding our bird puzzle feature! Thank you, everyone who looked at this puzzle and who commented on it. We appreciate your interest! Kim says we should make this kind of puzzle a monthly feature; does anyone else agree?

Anyway -- It appears that we won't be able to attach any photos to this message, so we'll just have to paint a picture with words for the moment. Today (Monday January 19) we were at sea all day, cruising south from the South Orkney Islands toward the Antarctic Peninsula. We saw no land today, but we saw hundreds of icebergs, some of them huge towering mountains of ice, others great flat tabular bergs more than a quarter of a mile across. Birds were not as abundant today as on some of our previous at-sea days, but we saw flocks of Cape Petrels and Southern Fulmars, scores of Wilson's Storm-Petrels and Black-bellied Storm-Petrels, and various other birds. Beautiful snow-white Snow Petrels were flying around many of the larger icebergs, and late in the day we were visited by a few strikingly patterned, fast-flying Antarctic Petrels. Most remarkable of all was a lone Emperor Penguin swimming in the open water, all alone, miles from any land.

Despite seeing such amazing birds, mammals stole the show today: the ship was able to maneuver slowly and respectfully close to several Humpback Whales and huge Fin Whales, and we watched some distant Orcas (Killer Whales) late in the day. At one point, passing a large area of floating pack ice, we saw several Leopard Seals hauled out on the ice -- these big seals are fast-swimming predators, the terror of all the smaller penguins, and the ones on the ice stared at us as we passed, their large reptilian heads frozen in permanent evil grins. We expect to see more Leopard Seals tomorrow, patrolling the waters just off the big Adelie Penguin colony on Paulet Island.

Internet access out here at sea is sporadic at best, but we'll write again when we can. Eventually (after we're back in Ohio, maybe) we'll post a lot of photos from the trip, and more descriptions of the birding highlights.

Peace Plan for Gaza

I think Muslim around the world should stop being emotional and seek logical solutions to Palestine issue because as it's clear Israel will always be there and Palestine have to be smarter about dealing and fighting against it.

Jews are smart and well organized, Palestine can't even agree among themselves and their actions aren't well planned, they can't even get along among themselves which makes it hard for them to fight.

Hamas shot their extra rockets and Fatah won the aids money and the poor Gaza people got the disaster part. I think they should rebel against Fatah and Hamas and form a united front.

They have to accept that Israel isn’t going anywhere for the next 50 years at least. Then Abbas and his "government" needs to JOIN Israel and ERADICATE Hamas, Fatah, and every other "group" (terrorists)!

Then and only then, will you have a single government who can actually look out for those people. When a spokeswoman for Abbas was asked on CNN if they had any contact with Hamas, she answered no.

As we say in Arabic, Illi fat, mat. What’s past is dead. No matter what you type here, say, do, or think. ISRAEL IS GOING TO BE HERE FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT 50 YEARS.

Get that in your head, and start working around it.

I spend four years of my teenage years in Northern Ireland and when asked about 'the troubles', used to say "I don't care about either side anymore. If they want to go around looking for reasons to kill, why should I worry about it? When both sides want peace the people spouting violence will eventually lose and the people wanting to talk will win. I don't care who was right or wrong anymore, I'm just want to live my life without hearing another kid in my neighborhoods has died."

Wonder if that moment will hit the Middle East (from both sides)?

Puzzled By Birds: Day Eight

From Birding HQ, Kenn and Kim write: Now we’re on the eighth day of our bird puzzle, and almost the whole creature is now visible. Unless the bird is holding a sign in the tip of its bill that reads, "Hi, I’m a _____ ______," we’re seeing about as much as we’re going to see. So this is the point where the game contestant says:

"I’d like to buy a fowl."

And we fill in the last remaining pieces.


So it’s a bird wading in a marshy area at the edge of water. Its feathers are mostly brown and white, which is not a special combination. But the shape of the bird is very distinctive: horizontal body, long legs, long neck, small rounded head, curved bill that’s thick at the base. What’s more, the legs and bill have a strong pink cast. There’s only one common North American bird that could look like this: an immature White Ibis (Eudocimus albus). The adult is white with black wingtips and with bright red bill and legs, but the young bird is bit less flashy. We photographed this young White Ibis on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in October 2006.

Give yourself extra points, incidentally, if you wondered about the possibility of a young Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber). That spectacular South American bird can look very similar to White Ibis in its younger stages. But we mentioned a few days ago that our quiz bird was of a species that's common in North America.

If you’ve been following along, we appreciate it, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the challenge of this bird puzzle. And if you haven’t, well, please write and tell us about that, too. We’ll see your comments when we get back to the USA in late January.

Hamas killing Palestinians

Open the video Link below

It may help you to understand why Israel is now fighting Hamas in the Gaza strip

I've seen many videos and photos, but this is by far the best description of Hamas ! This video was made not by Israelis, but by an Arab , a Palestinian who shows you who hamas really is !

Israel has been telling this to the world for years, but the world prefers to turn the deaf ear and blind eye to the sad truth!

Hamas against the Palestinians! This is how they succeeded in being elected - by force !

Watch and learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_OGhj43GAE

Gajah sama Gajah berjuang, Pelantuk mati ditengah-tengah

Gazan Blaming Hamas for Death

Enough is enough, say tired Gazans
Reuters
Published: January 17, 2009, 23:27

Gaza: Exhausted by lack of sleep, shattered by countless bombs and drained by bereavement, Gazans held out hope for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Saturday, if only for a chance to collect their lives.

"We do not care how, we want a ceasefire. We want to go back to our homes. Our children need to go back to sleep in their beds," said Ali Hassan, 34, a father of five who is sheltering in his brother's house in the centre of Gaza.

"Enough is enough," he said, explaining how he had moved his family from north Gaza to the centre of the city two weeks ago to escape Israeli bombardments in his neighbourhood.

"Our ears were about to blow up from the continued bombings. We are even lucky to be alive still," he said.

Despite stepped-up diplomacy and signs a ceasefire could soon be declared, Israel has sustained its three-week-old air, tank and artillery assault, seeking to deal a definitive blow to Hamas and its rockets before any truce takes hold.

In the face of the onslaught, which Palestinian doctors say has killed 1,200 Palestinians, including 410 children, Hamas has continued to fire rockets into Israel, albeit fewer than before, with seven launched yesterday, according to the Israeli army.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed in the conflict, 10 soldiers and three civilians hit by rocket fire.

With several relatives killed, and little sign Hamas's missiles were having a deep impact on Israel, Hassan suggested it was time for Israel to take the initiative and cease fire.

"A unilateral ceasefire from the side of Israel would be a blow to Hamas, a political defeat," he said.

"Israel could claim they entered the heart of Gaza, destroyed the places, killed Seyyam and can come again any time," he said, referring to Hamas security chief Saeed Seyyam, who died in an Israeli air strike on Thursday.

Others, though, were not convinced, saying Hamas should instead try to strike an open-ended ceasefire with Israel.

"That way they can claim it is not permanent and can break it once they have the ability to," said Aziz, a taxi driver.

"Hamas has made a point. Hamas has not been broken, they are continuing to fire rockets when they want and where they want. But they need to think wisely of the gains and the losses."

Stopping rockets

The gains and losses of Hamas's policy are a major point of discussion among Gazans, many of whom instinctively support Palestinian resistance against Israel, but question the cost in lives and destruction of the past three weeks. "Rockets must end. What did we gain from them?" said Lama, a secretary for a Gaza company, who would not give her full name.

"Now Hamas is negotiating a truce. They were given an offer to renew it in December but they refused. Now after thousands of casualties, how does Hamas explain that?" she asked.

Hamas has fired around 8,000 rockets and mortars into Israel since 2001, killing 21 people and causing widespread disruption in southern towns. Israel has said stopping rockets is the chief objective of its offensive.

Puzzled By Birds: Day Seven

From amid our frenzied packing for our trip, back in December, Kenn and Kim write: Here is the seventh installment of our gradual revelation of our bird puzzle. By now, most of the bird is visible. In fact, we can see almost everything except its face. Ever notice how important face pattern is for identification? But regardless, can you identify this bird? Send a comment if you can. The comments won’t actually appear on the blog until late January, when we return to the States, but at that point whoever got it first will be showered with the admiration and adulation of your peers.

Puzzled By Birds: Day Six

From back in December, Kenn and Kim write: This is the sixth day of our puzzle challenge. Again, we put these posts together before we left the country, since we probably won’t be able to update the blog from our location in the southern ocean. So if you post a comment, it won’t show up until we return to the U.S. in late January. But do send a comment if you’ve decided on the identity of our mystery bird, because we’ll have some nifty prize for the first to identify it correctly.

Puzzled By Birds: Day Five

From Puzzlebird Headquarters, Kenn and Kim write: This is the fifth day of our ongoing puzzle challenge, wherein we fill in a few more pieces of the bird every day around noon. When you think you know what the bird is, send us a comment. We won’t see the comments for a while - - if our trip is on schedule, we’ll be at South Georgia today (not like south of Atlanta, but South Georgia Island, 870 miles east of the Falklands and just south of the Antarctic Convergence). But after we get back, we’ll be able to see who sent in the right answer first, and the lucky winner will receive not only the adulation of your peers but possibly some nifty prize.

Puzzled By Birds: Day Four

From out in cyberspace, Kenn and Kim write: If you’re just joining us, this is the fourth installment of an ongoing puzzle. Every day from now through Sunday, at about noon (eastern time) we’ll reveal a few more pieces of this jigsaw puzzle bird. How many pieces do you need before you can identify it to species? If you really want to challenge yourself, of course, you could go back to the first entry on January 11 and try to identify the bird from the tiny fragments shown there.

What make the Israeli so blond and merciless in their attacks?

It’s the 19th day, there were far fewer air strikes on Gaza City and other parts of the north than on the previous night, but there isn’t any sign of the war stopping.

What make the Israeli so blond and merciless in their attacks?

In the 1930s the entire Arab world boycotted Israel, they were stranded with no trade and supply lines and that continue into the forties and the fifties they continued to wallow in hunger. Most family in Jerusalem received only one egg a day, the malnourished Jewish can be seen today in Israel. Pregnant women can’t even leave their houses due to the strict curfew.

Isn’t this what those Palestinian facing now?

Jewish refugees came to Israel from all over Arab world because they were force to leave behind all their fortunes in Baghdad, Tripoli, Sudan & etc. They rather live in tents inside mud fields in Israel rather that victimized by those Arab countries. Don’t know for what so ever reason, Arabs hate the Jewish. Even before the setup of Israel State, Jewish homes were latterly burned down by Arabs.

You got to admire all these Jewish people, instead of crying of spilled milk, they work very hard to get where they are today. All this while leaving in a very poor condition, something like Gaza today. Seven people in one small room with a shower tap outside for all twenty inhabitants and kitchen that not even fit to make sandwiches.

They laughed at their own misery and found whatever joy they could in being alive and they emerged from hell into a paradise build out of their own sweat and blood. That’s what they did and all these while fighting off seven armies when they announced independence in accordance with the UN resolution. Later facing conflict after conflict and their citizen were taxed to the hilt to defend this tiny slither of land.

Jewish used their desperations and made something of it and today you have the Intel chip - the cell phone - artificial insemination - voicemail - sophisticated billing systems - the disk on key - noninvasive digestive cameras - drip agriculture - cd rom and countless other output to be thankful for.. Yes! Please boycott all of the above cause its Jewish Invention. DIRECT FROM JEWISH, not even go through USA!

I wonder why so many Malaysian show so much concern about Palestine? Palestine neighbors don’t really care. Did Israel really treat them bad or they want to make the world believe that the world believe that Israel treated them bad.

Go see how the Lebanese treat their Palestinians restricted from dealing in any reasonable profession whereas Israel have Palestinians as members of parliament lawyers and hospitals are a flush with Arab Israelis many of whom are self defined Palestinian.

Go see how the refugees of Jordan live and compare them to those in shuafat and jenin and you will see how much better they have it in Israel.

Even when the Gazans breached the Egyptian border the Egyptian were mortified by how much wealthier even the Gazans were over the Palestinians of the north sinai who suddenly bought all of their stocks and goods only to sell half of them back for triple the amount.

Did Israel cut electricity to Gaza?

Hamas bombed the very Israeli power plant that sends them electricity. Three rockets were targeted at and landed within its precinct. Are you suggesting Israel need to both fix the damage foot the bill and then continue to send them energy?

Israeli pays a premium because naturally Arab countries don’t sell them energy resources? How many ends does a raw stick have?

You can’t deny the brutality of the Middle Eastern Jewish faces in the hand of Arabs, Syria has but a handful of Jewish and the hundreds of thousands of Moroccan Jewish are nowhere to be found except in Israel and France.

I have been to morocco and love that country for what it is but the synagogues stand decrepit and the old Jewish quarters are sanitized of Jews. Essaouirra once had 14 thousand Jews and now has but 4 families.

Yes what the Arab nations did to Jews was definitely as bad as the Nazis only far longer period of time.

Except for a community in Iran which itself is a mere fraction of what was once one of the largest communities of Jews outside Israel - the Muslim world is virtually Jews-free.

So don’t go blaming the Germans, Arabs beat them at their game.

BUT that is history and today we have a new tragedy.

Take Shuafat refugee camp - a camp built on the traditional lands of Arab shuafat within the ring of greater Jerusalem. These people need to start living normal lives. They’re on Palestinian land anyway. Why not pave their roads? Why not sort out their own sewage system and regulate their local tax contributions? Why not live and negotiate your terms through dignity and productivity rather than riots and violence?

We need to both be willing to use the mouth instead of the gun if dialog is to ever become a viable option.

And it has to be. Because as so many wiser people said here Violence leads to no peace..

As much as people want to paint Jewish as the region pariah, if the people of every accusing state were to check themselves first - not for the past - just for the present – they are not 100% right!

Puzzled By Birds: Day Three

From our diabolical secret laboratory, Kenn and Kim write: This is the third day in a row in which we reveal just a little more of our puzzle bird. If you can figure out what it is (and there’s an important new clue revealed today), post a comment to the blog. We’ll check the comments when we get back to the U.S., to see who got it first.

Here’s a hint: this is a bird that occurs regularly in the United States, and it’s even common there in some places. That narrows it down, right? One of about 750 species, rather than one out of about 10,000.

An update from the open ocean ...

From the Clipper Adventurer in the Southern Ocean, approaching South Georgia Island, Kenn and Kim write: If you're reading this, then we've succeeded in connecting to the Internet from this ship. The last few days have been packed with birding adventure in Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and the open ocean. We just spent the last 48 hours completely out of sight of any land, but there hasn't been a moment when no birds were visible -- the southern ocean is alive with seabirds.

We'll write in more detail when we can, but in the meantime, here's a photo of a Wandering Albatross from earlier today. It's a magnificent bird, with a wingspan of a good eleven feet, one of the largest flying birds in the world. So far we've seen four species of albatrosses, four species of penguins, and yes, Kim got her first photos of baby penguins! More later --

Puzzled By Birds: Day Two

From Puzzlebird Central, Kenn and Kim write: In yesterday’s post (which we actually wrote back in December ... like this one), we described how this "photo quiz" works. Every day, for eight days in a row, we’ll repeat this photo with more of the pieces filled in. Provided we got the settings right, each day’s post will appear around noon (eastern time). See how many pieces you need to have filled in before you can identify the mystery puzzle bird.

Gaza: Walk the Talk

A Dubai-based doctor is to risk his life defying an Israeli sea blockade of Gaza today.

“I’m not being cheesy or fatalistic about this, but we have to be realistic about the dangers. Whatever comes, so be it,” Dr Ali Dabbagh said as he prepared to board a ship in Cyprus that will take him to the Gaza coast.

Israeli navy boats are stationed off the Gaza coast and last week rammed a similar effort to reach Gaza civilians.

The group ‘Free Gaza Campaign’ had to abandon their boat last week and have returned with another vessel, this time with Dr Dabbagh on.

“I’m in a pharmacy collecting last minute supplies. Anything we can get our hands on, we are going to use,” Dr Dabbagh said from a port that cannot be named for security reasons.

The boat was due to reach the Gaza coast today, where an Israeli blockade had promised to stop ships passing.

“We have heard all kinds of stories about other boats that have tried the same thing. All I can do is go ahead and hope for the best,” Dr Ali said.

Under the terms of the Oslo peace agreement, Israeli still controls Gaza coastal waters and has vowed not to let any vessels through to Gaza during its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.

Dr Dabbagh said that most medical supplies were already onboard the ship and that he had “pulled the short straw” and was being sent to the pharmacy to buy extra supplies.

Dr Dabbagh’s mission is particularly important as many of the others onboard are journalists who been blocked from reporting in Gaza.

He heard about the ship last Thursday and immediately dropped everything and rushed to Cyprus to help.

This is the only one who walk the talk!

Puzzled By Birds: Day One

From back in December, Kenn and Kim write: If our trip is running on schedule, today we will have left the Falklands to head east-southeast through the wild waters of the South Atlantic, heading for remote South Georgia Island. Communicating from there may be a distinct challenge -- so we thought we’d give YOU a distinct challenge, in the form of a brand new kind of bird quiz.
Here’s a new kind of bird identification quiz. The picture here is a kind of digital jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces removed. Can you tell, from the pieces visible here, what kind of bird this is? (If you can, you’re some kind of super-birder!)

For the next 8 days, assuming that we got the settings right, we’ll be posting this picture again each day (about noon Eastern time) with a few more of the pieces added. You’ll gradually be able to see more of the bird and its habitat. When you think you know what it is, send us a comment. Your comments won’t actually appear on the blog until we’re back in the U.S. to moderate them, but we’ll know who answered correctly first, and we’ll send you some kind of fabulous prize.

A Link to the Falklands

From cyberspace, Kenn writes: If we're on schedule, today we'll be on the Falklands, those cold but beautiful rocky islands east of the southern tip of South America. We probably won't be able to post from out there. But for a taste of what we might be seeing, you can check out Alan Henry's blog, Birding in the Falkland Islands. Alan has lived in the Falklands since 1987 and is an expert on the birdlife there. Naturally, it's exciting for him to find birds that are rare on the islands -- including visitors that would be common for us in North America, like Barn Swallow and Lesser Yellowlegs. But he also includes photos of his everyday local birds, like Falkland Steamer Ducks and Rockhopper Penguins!

McMahathir

Ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysians "will not die if they do not use the US goods" and urged those working for US companies such as fast-food giant McDonalds to quit their jobs.

"I hope Starbucks and McDonald's employees will stop working there," he told a crowd of 500 people who held a noisy protest outside the National Mosque after Friday prayers.

"If you have the US dollar, please change to other currencies, or to our ringgit. When you stop using the US dollar its value will drop," Mahathir added.

"They will become a bankrupt country and will not be able to produce weapons for Israel."

MacMahathir or Mad-Mahathir?

Susu Anak, Loan Rumah & Kereta... Mahathir bayar?

Babi! Babi! Babi!

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs.. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth.

The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve.

After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans' that could be found quickly were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops?

Take a look...you won't believe your eyes!!

Now, please tell me one more time... Why can't the rest of the world get along?


'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain.'

Random Bird: Blackbird

Kenn wrote this back in December: (Today, January 7, we're supposed to be boarding ship in Tierra del Fuego to head toward the Antarctic, and we set this post to be published in our absence.)

So who would call a bird simply "Blackbird?" The British. Look at bird books from England, especially older ones, and you’ll see bird names like Blackbird, Heron, Wren, Jay, Swallow, etc., as if there were only one bird in each of these groups. Those British sometimes act as if they had invented the English language!

Anyway, The Blackbird (which Americans often refer to as "Eurasian Blackbird") is not at all related to the blackbird family (Icteridae), a strictly New World group which includes our familiar Red-winged Blackbird as well as grackles, cowbirds, American orioles, meadowlarks, and others. In fact, the (Eurasian) Blackbird is a very close relative of the American Robin (which is not closely related to the European Robin ... Got that? There will be a quiz in the morning). The Blackbird is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced into Australia and New Zealand. There are a few records from eastern Canada, but there are some doubts about how those birds may have arrived there. The Blackbird shown above is one that we watched in Copenhagen, Denmark, in September 2005. Aside from the color of its feathers, it looked for all the world like an American Robin, and acted like one, too, perfectly at home in a tiny park in the big city.

Not only is this blackbird very widespread in the Old World, it’s also culturally important. "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" would have been this species. The Beatles' song "Blackbird," with the lines about "Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly," was referring to this species. But when it comes to the Wallace Stevens poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," the answer is unclear; Stevens was an American but some of his blackbirds seem to have a European tilt.

Girls night out

Two women friends had gone for a "girls’ night out".

They both were very faithful, loving wives... however; they had gotten a bit over enthusiastic on Bacardi Breezers. Incredibly drunk and walking home, they needed to pee, so they stopped in a cemetery.

One had nothing to wipe with so she decided to take off her panties and use them.

Her friend, however, was wearing expensive panties and didn't want to ruin them...luckily she had squatted next to a grave that had a fresh wreath with a ribbon on it...so she proceeded to wipe with that.

After the girls completed their "business" they continued toward home.

The following day, one of the women's husbands was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed and hung over.

He phoned the other husband, and said “These girls’ nights out have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst! My wife came home with no panties!"...

"That's nothing!" said the other husband, “mine came back with a card stuck to her butt that read:

"FROM ALL OF US AT THE FIRE STATION... WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU"!!!

End of Story

Out with Africa's big five

“Hold on tight and don’t let go!” shouted Samson over the sound of the motor as the van rumbled down the rough, weather-beaten path towards the cavernous mouth of the Ngorongoro crater.

My mouth went dry and my hands turned clammy in anticipation of what lay only a few kilometres ahead.

Our tiny safari party was soon swallowed up by the yawning jaws of the crater.

Flourishing within the belly and the walls of this natural amphitheatre were approximately 25,000 wild animals roaming free.

To me, that felt like unearthing the proverbial pot of gold at the rainbow’s end.

One of the highest peaks

Between steering the van down the rugged dirt route and listening to his blaring radio, Samson, my Tanzanian guide, enlightened me about this Unesco World Heritage Site.

About three million years ago, Ngorongoro was one of the highest peaks in Africa.

Triggered by the turbulent formation of the Rift Valley, the volcano erupted and then collapsed on itself forming the dramatic Ngorongoro crater, measuring 265 square kilometres, now known as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

I looked out at the clear blue Tanzanian sky from the van window and imagined the volcano spewing lava in fury and transforming the scene forever.

This indentation on the African plains, rich in fertile volcanic soil, became home to Africa’s “big five” — the rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo.

A combination of lakes, swampy grasslands and lush green forests attracted an assortment of air- and land-bound fauna to feed, soak, forage and wander freely.

Spread out on a yellow, sun-baked carpet of savannah grass lay wildebeest and zebras in their thousands.

Shoulder to shoulder they stood, grazing peacefully while I feasted my eyes on them.

Towering Euphorbia trees dotted the 600-metre-deep crater. Heat waves emanated from the ground as these grassy plains sweltered under the blazing African sun.

Gazelles, buffalo, eland, wildebeest and zebra roam the very same savannah as their large carnivore neighbours.

Breaking my reverie, Samson’s two-way radio crackled to life with news of lion sightings.

My heart pounded as our coffee-coloured vehicle tore through the grass, kicking up dirt in its wake.

Three young males, possibly brothers, were spotted on a hillside.

In their prime, these cubs with developing golden manes were clearly biding their time to adulthood.

Eventually they would fight an older male and take over his pride.

This would ensure the right to mate with the pride’s lionesses and sire the next generation.

For the moment, these gorgeous, golden kings with young manes to match looked perfectly content.

Lions are stealthy killing machines with powerfully built torsos and crushing jaws to bring down prey double their size and to rip it to shreds. It is plain to see why it is considered the king of beasts.

Samson decided it was time for a break and scouted around for a comfortable picnic.

Sitting under the cool shade of an ancient baobab tree, the spot selected could not have been better.

With sprawling grasslands for view and twittering birds for company, we gobbled up sandwiches, washing them down with cans of chilled juice.

As the van set off one more time, I took my place under the open roof once again, drowsy from the warmth and the picnic but too excited to miss out anything.

And then I saw them — two graceful ostriches — one male, one female.

Black-and-white plumes puffed up, the male ostrich attempted a mating dance, enthusiastically bobbing his head about.

Hearing the crackle of twigs, Samson killed the noisy ignition. Rustling through the grass was a lone bull elephant.

He cut through the grassy path a few metres ahead of our grimy van. Solitary in his thoughts, the elephant explored his environs and chewed on leaves.

It is never a good idea to get too close to a bull elephant, so Samson quickly started the engine and gently backed away.

As we moved from the bush into the open grasslands, we came across Maasai tribesmen dressed in red, casting long shadows in the late afternoon sun.

Tall, dark and handsome, they carried long sticks and grazed their cattle on a hillside.

Arriving in the region somewhere in the 1800s, they were moved in 1959 to the newly declared Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The Maasai tribespeople are permitted to graze their cattle in this crater, thereby maintaining their way of life within a natural environment.

I looked out the back of the van to see shimmering images of our crimson-clad friends disappear in the afternoon haze.

Blackened earth under our wheels seemed to taint the terrain. Samson explained that to manage vegetation in the crater, grass and bush were often set on fire.

Dusk settled and the buzz of insects infused the air as a turmeric sun set over the majestic Tanzanian terrain.

Like members of a privileged audience, I had been witness to an exceptional display of Africa’s natural performers.

Twilight would bring its own share of sinewy shadows, stalking the savannah and its swampy watering holes.

Standing up through the open roof, I turned towards the auburn expanse to see the sky and earth become one — the fierce eternal bond that brings together the grassland with grazers, dry bush with strapping tribesmen, and forests with foragers. A never-ending circle of life.

Random Bird: Purple-bibbed Whitetip

Kenn wrote this back in December: (Today, January 5, we're supposed to be leading a group of birders to the Otamendi Nature Reserve north of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It's unlikely that we'll have a chance to post anything, so this "random bird" is set to post in our absence.)

That’s one of the great things about being a bird blogger. Who else gets to title a post "Purple-bibbed Whitetip?"

This small hummingbird (technically Urosticte benjamini) occurs only on the west slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador, mostly in the understory of dense forest in the subtropical zone. It had been considered "rare to uncommon and perhaps local" and "not often seen" as recently as 2001. That was when the outstanding two-volume "The Birds of Ecuador," by Bob Ridgely and Paul Greenfield, was published. But since then, a number of ecotourism lodges in Ecuador have put up hummingbird feeders, and suddenly this rare-and-not-often-seen hummer has become a lot easier to see. The establishment of feeders in many tropical areas has not changed the actual distribution of hummingbirds, but it has certainly altered our understanding of where they live.

I had seen this bird’s only close relative, the Rufous-vented Whitetip, in Peru several years ago, but I’d never encountered the Purple-bibbed until February 2006, when Kim and I got to watch (and photograph) this species at leisure at the Tandayapa Bird Lodge, near Mindo, Ecuador. The purple bibs of the males were visible only in certain lights, but the odd white tips to their central tail feathers were very conspicuous.

Buenos Aires, Day Dos

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, Kim and Kenn write: Our friend Delores Cole (web guru for Black Swamp Bird Observatory and Ohio Young Birders Club) came in this morning, and walked out with us for another round at the Costanera Sur Nature Reserve. As indicated by the sign above, the reserve is internationally recognized as an Important Bird Area.



A major Important Bird of this Area is the outlandish Guira Cuckoo. It looks weird enough standing still, but check out this video that Kim took of the bird calling and showing off (with authentic Latino music in the background):

A bird that we found foraging in the high traffic area along the edge of the reserve was the totally gorgeous Red-crested Cardinal. But, unlike most good-looking humans I've encountered, these doggone birds did NOT want to have their picture taken. I chased them up and down the sidewalk, generating ZERO good photos, but lots of laughs from Kenn & Delores, and the locals who delighted in watching the bird come in right next to me...until I raised the camera.

Eventually I got bored with the game and started people watching. That's how I spotted and photographed the much more cooperative Red-crested human, which looked remarkably like the bird that refused to have its picture taken! Here she is doing some foraging of her own:

Of course, as soon as I gave up and settled for a photo of a look-alike, the real thing came along and posed for me. Check out this stunner:

The Beautiful (and fussy!) Red-crested Cardinal

The most common hummingbird here was the Glittering-bellied Emerald (another name invented by museum ornithologists, trying to come up with something distinctive about yet another species of Chlorostilbon that looks pretty much like all the others). We often saw it feeding at the flowers of tree-tobacco (Nicotiana glauca). This is a great hummingbird plant in the southern USA and Mexico as well, but here in South America it's more likely to be a local native.

The trails through the park are filled with local people who come here to exercise. They certainly seem to enjoy the sun; Kenn was practically the only man there who was wearing a shirt. Some apparently come to exercise their bodies. Others appeared to be exorcizing any variety of demons.

Kenn had an interesting conversation with one of the locals who seemed to be doing a bit of both. A nice fella, who knew a bit about the birds, he, um, well, he didn't have much on in terms of clothing. But he sure knew a lot about Rufous Horneros! When he saw our binoculars, he stopped running, came straight over and pointed excitedly to a large nest above our heads. Kenn was too nice to tell him that we knew exactly what it was, and that we'd been standing there admiring it for several minutes. We're always thrilled when the locals seem to be aware and appreciative of their bird neighbors, and we didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm.

The conversation Kenn had with the guy was totally in Spanish, so I was pretty much out of the loop. After he jogged off, Kenn explained the conversation, referring to the guy as "The Naked Naturalist" which had me giggling like an idiot the rest of the day.

In case you don't remember the Rufous Hornero.....Here it is again.

And, here's its way cool nest.

See, it looks like an old oven, doesn't it?!

The Naked Naturalist moves on after giving us the lo-down on the

Rufous Hornero and its nest.

A few birds from Buenos Aires

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, Kenn writes: We were walking for hours and for miles in the huge Costanera Sur reserve right in the city today, developing a good January sunburn in the process. Buenos Aires is a city of around ten million people, and it's amazing to have this superb nature reserve within walking distance of the downtown hotels. A recurrent drought has dried up the ponds that usually have hordes of waterbirds, but we did see a great variety of landbirds. It's after midnight here in Argentina and we're too wasted to write anything, but here are a few pictures, anyway.

Looking at a small part of the skyline of Buenos Aires, Argentina, from across the Costanera Sur Nature Reserve

Picazuro Pigeon -- this native pigeon is abundant in the reserve

Bay-winged Cowbird -- the most attractive of the three local species of cowbirds (this one is not a brood parasite, but its nests are parasitized by another species, the Screaming Cowbird)

Green-barred Woodpecker, lurking in deep shade -- as you might guess by looking, this bird is related to the flickers in North America

This young White-rumped Swallow was waiting to be fed by its parents. Early January is mid-summer here, and we saw recently fledged young birds of several species.

Facts about Palestine

Israel is a country, acknowledged by the UN and the majority of the world, INCLUDING a few MUSLIM and ARAB countries (Egypt is a prime example)

There is NO country on this planet called Palestine.

"Palestinians" who do NOT have ANY passport, but a "Wathiqa" (Document) may travel as they wish.

Israel has an actual government, a constitution, and a claim to that land. Before Israel, that land was a part of the British mandate of Palestine, a name the British MADE UP. Before 1912, NO "Palestinians" existed. The people who lived there were Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians, and constituencies (kind of) of the Ottoman Empire.

The "Palestinian" issue stems from the fact that their "leaders" are corrupt dogs, and they can’t get along with each other.

You can only be Japanese if there is a Japan, Chinese if there is a China and German if there is a Germany... So... Palestinians are from...? (Again, there is today, NO country called Palestine.)

The correct terminology, based on the geographical setting of Gaza would either be Egyptian or Israeli.

With the absence of either Israeli or Egyptian citizenship, these "stateless people" are just that, STATELESS.

I actually dont have anything PERSONALLY against these people. Nor have I gone through one single situation that makes me "hate" them.

I like facts. There isn’t a Palestine, and thus there can’t be Palestinians. The UN caters to them because they don’t know what to do with hem.

ISRAEL being an actual country has an obligation to protect its people, and if that means genocide, so be it.

"Palestinians" have no such right, as they don’t have a country or government that is allowed to do that for them. They have a "president" who is powerless to stop crazy fanatics as they do what they wish.

Again, if YOU feel strongly about this, if YOU care, then YOU should be there HELPING, NOT sitting in your safe ell off house typing on the computer.

But I don’t expect anything from people who bark with drunken sincerity when ordered. You are pathetic and a prime example as to why the human race as a whole is one vile mess.

Oh, and just because you died, doesn’t mean you are automatically a martyr. There are rules for martyrdom, ones that usually never are present in the Arab Israeli conflict.

Don´t Cry For Me (we're in) Argentina

From Buenos Aires, Kim and Kenn write: (Couldn´t resist the musical reference in the title.) Before we left home we weren´t sure we´d be able to post to the blog from here. But if you´re reading this, then evidently we can! That might change once we´re on the ship, but for now, woo hoo! (can you tell that Kim typed that part?!)

So, yes, we´re here. We´re sleep-deprived and jet-lagged. But thanks to our dear friends Lois and Vic, we made it to the airport safe and sound, and made the long overnight flight so that we could be in Argentina today. Kim had a life bird (the very cool Chimango Caracara!!) before we even got off the plane! It was perched on a light pole and several Blue-and-white Swallows were harrassing it, giving away its location.

The big nature reserve of Costanera Sur was closed today for New Years, but the beautiful cosmopolitan city of Buenos Aires is full of small parks that have their own attractions. In a park off Tucuman Avenue, we photographed this impressive old tree, which obviously had been here for a while:






A bird that´s common in the city is the Rufous Hornero. ¨Hornero¨ in Spanish is a reference to ¨one who works with ovens,¨ and the whole tropical family of Ovenbirds (Furnariidae) (unrelated to the North American bird called the Ovenbird, which is a warbler) gets its name from this Rufous Hornero (scientific name Furnarius rufus), which builds a nest shaped like an old oven.

We saw these horneros in several parks and gardens today, marching about on the ground with a self-important air.

Monk Parakeet is a bird that you can see in parks in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and many other U.S. cities, but those are all descended from escaped cagebirds. The ones we saw in Buenos Aires today were wild birds on their native range.

Monk Parakeet in B.A., just as noisy here as it is anywhere.

Take a casual look at any of these small Buenos Aires parks and you´d swear you were seeing American Robins running around. Take a closer look and you realize the bird doesn´t look quite the same. This is a related bird, the Rufous-bellied Thrush. Similar thrushes wind up being common city birds in many parts of the world.

Rufous-bellied Thrush, the local robin substitute in Buenos Aires.



Okay, it´s almost 10:30 at night here, we´re tired, dirty, hungry, and ready to call it a night. Happy New Year to all (and to all a good night).

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